Reviews
Sep 4, 2024
Thank you to Broccoli Games for a copy of this lovely game!
Coffee Caravan by developer Broccoli Games is a wholesome and cozy cafe management game. Think PlateUp!, but with a pastel color palette, you only serve variations of coffee, and there are difficulty levels that affect the whole game. Start your coffee-making adventure with the smallest trailer and basic equipment. Serve a variety of different customers in order to earn money. And experience an enjoyable, but sometimes challenging cozy game with a roguelite element!
This charming game puts you in charge of running your very own, albeit tiny, coffee shop. You start your journey with the smallest trailer possible and with the basic necessities like coffee beans, a grinder, coffee pot, sink, and cups. As you complete levels and earn money, you’ll be able to access the shop to buy upgrades to your equipment, new equipment and helpful items like counters, and add more coffee recipes to your list. If you successfully complete a whole run from start to end, you’ll receive a larger trailer, too! Plus, there are decorations you can buy that offer useful buffs and you have control over how your kitchen, seating area, and decor is set up. So, organize the kitchen to best suit you, and serve some coffee!
The Coziest of Coffee Management Games
I love everything about Coffee Caravan. No, seriously. The start menu is relaxing and easy to navigate. The background music is chill, but upbeat. I enjoy the pastel aesthetic and the faceless character design adds a charm to the game. Being able to select recipes, organize my space, and decorate is a lot of fun too. The choice of easy, normal, and hard difficulties is perfect for different days. Some days I want the easy game, some days I prefer the challenge of hard difficulty. So, I have a save slot for each one!
What I’d never thought I needed was a roguelite element to my cozy games, but I love how it plays out in this one. No game will play the same as your roadmap will be different each time. And how you choose to play one map may differ from how you play others. The unique way this game lays out level choices adds freshness, too. You can choose from a laid-back level, or maybe visit the shop. Unless you prefer the challenge of a more hectic day, then choose that one and then hop on over to a bonus stage that might reward you with a new item, extra money, or even be a chance at another shopping spree at the shop. Or you’ll earn new customers or conditions to play through.
Roadmap
That’s not all that this game will have, though! In fact, the developers have just released an update for players who use macOS. This release also sees the addition of some great QoL updates like being able to switch the item in your hand with the item on a customer’s table! So, no more running to an open table or counter to free up hands. Just switch them out! There were some missing icons on recipes that have been added in, as well as a new confirmation for deleting a save on a gamepad. Then there were some optimizations to make the game even better.
The lovely developers have also release a roadmap that gives a general idea of what they’re working on and what to look forward to. First was the macOS release, which is to be followed by improvements for the Steam Deck, and the launch of a Discord server. Their goal for this summer is to release the Ice Cream World update so you can serve delicious, frosty treats instead of coffee. Plus, you get to look forward to new character accessories for customization and Russian and Korean localization. Later on this year, with no release date determined, Coffee Caravan will see the addition of Endless Mode for greater challenging fun, cat pets for you to enjoy, Twitch integration, Freeplay mode, and a new demo.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it’s a great little single player game. Play on whichever setting you prefer, and experience an ever-changing game with fascinating roguelite features. There’s also tea service you can unlock, and coming with the free summer update is ice cream! It’s a perfectly cozy game, or make it as challenging as you want, if you prefer that. Coffee Caravan really aims to provide a varied gameplay experience and they achieve that! I can’t recommend this game enough to the casual gamers out there.
I give it:
You can find Coffee Caravan on Steam now!
- Jul 31, 2024
Thank you to Broccoli Games for a copy of this lovely game!
Coffee Caravan by developer Broccoli Games is a wholesome and cozy cafe management game. Think PlateUp!, but with a pastel color palette, you only serve variations of coffee, and there are difficulty levels that affect the whole game. Start your coffee-making adventure with the smallest trailer and basic equipment. Serve a variety of different customers in order to earn money. And experience an enjoyable, but sometimes challenging cozy game with a roguelite element!
This charming game puts you in charge of running your very own, albeit tiny, coffee shop. You start your journey with the smallest trailer possible and with the basic necessities like coffee beans, a grinder, coffee pot, sink, and cups. As you complete levels in Coffee Caravan and earn money, you’ll be able to access the shop to buy upgrades to your equipment, new equipment and helpful items like counters, and add more coffee recipes to your list. If you successfully complete a whole run from start to end, you’ll receive a larger trailer, too! Plus, there are decorations you can buy that offer useful buffs and you have control over how your kitchen, seating area, and decor is set up. So, organize the kitchen to best suit you, and serve some coffee!
The Coziest of Coffee Management Games
I love everything about Coffee Caravan. No, seriously. The start menu is relaxing and easy to navigate. The background music is chill, but upbeat. I enjoy the pastel aesthetic and the faceless character design adds a charm to the game. Being able to select recipes, organize my space, and decorate is a lot of fun too. The choice of easy, normal, and hard difficulties is perfect for different days. Some days I want the easy game, some days I prefer the challenge of hard difficulty. So, I have a save slot for each one!
What I’d never thought I needed was a roguelite element to my cozy games, but I love how it plays out in this one. No game will play the same as your roadmap will be different each time. And how you choose to play one map may differ from how you play others. The unique way Coffee Caravan lays out level choices adds freshness, too. You can choose from a laid-back level, or maybe visit the shop. Unless you prefer the challenge of a more hectic day, then choose that one and then hop on over to a bonus stage that might reward you with a new item, extra money, or even be a chance at another shopping spree at the shop. Or you’ll earn new customers or conditions to play through.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it’s a great little single player game. Play on whichever setting you prefer, and experience an ever-changing game with fascinating roguelite features. There’s also tea service you can unlock, and coming with the free summer update is ice cream! It’s a perfectly cozy game, or make it as challenging as you want, if you prefer that. Coffee Caravan really aims to provide a varied gameplay experience and they achieve that! I can’t recommend this game enough to the casual gamers out there.
I give it:
You can find Coffee Caravan on Steam now!
If you’re looking for more reviews, check out the one on Rusty’s Retirement, Minami Lane, and Times & Galaxy for a few different game ideas!
- Jul 1, 2024
Rusty’s Retirement is a cute farming idle game that sits at the bottom, or vertically on the side, of your computer screen. It’s a farming sim, so you plant crops, raise animals, and decorate. But instead of requiring your full attention at all times, it chugs away at whatever tasks it needs to while you do other things. You start out with just Rusty running the show, but as you progress, you can automate by building robots who will plant, water, and harvest crops for you. It’s perfect for the busy person looking to take short breaks playing a little something cozy!
It’s The Perfect Idle Game
I really don’t generally enjoy idle games, honestly. They don’t hold my attention and the progression never feels good. Nevermind that most idle games I come across are combat-based and require repetition of levels to get good enough to advance. I’ve found myself trying different ones before, but always forgetting they exist after a while. I just can’t get into them.
Rusty’s Retirement, though? It’s perfect in my eyes. Perhaps it’s because I already enjoy farming sims, but I think it really is more than just that. The game uses some lovely pixel art that I’ve grown to love over the years as it represents a sense of nostalgia for me. Plus, the color palette used for everything works well. The grass, farm plots, and buildings aren’t overwhelmingly bright. They’re actually a fairly subdued color, which helps things like the different decorative flowers pop when they’re placed. It makes for a really pleasant look overall.
Which brings me to the different options. You initially start with just Rusty’s house, a biofuel converter, and water well. The rest is an empty plot of grass, much of which you need to unlock to expand. Place down farm plots where you want them to begin growing crops. There are 42 different crops to grow in Rusty’s Retirement, and 7 different houses to build. Each house serves a different purpose in unlocking new options for you. Decorative flowers and other natural decor, berry bushes and bees, bot upgrades, farm animals, and farm statistics all come in handy at some point. The bees provide honey and the animals produce fertilizer that help crops grow. Everything has its place and works together with everything else to create a balanced game. Of course, the decorations are just for fun and to make your farm a creative outlet.
Easy to Play and Perfectly Cozy
I really appreciate that Rusty’s Retirement is easy and casual. There’s no huge learning curve. There isn’t some big, hidden challenge. What you see is what you get, which is exactly what I want from it. It’s easy to come back to. And your little helpers are fairly intelligent when moving buildings and plots. The ones performing the move will grab a box, move it to the new area, then head back. They focus on finishing that one task before moving on to something else. No one is performing tasks like I do when I’ve had too much coffee: a little bit of everything here and there so nothing really gets done well or in a timely manner. Plus, the unlock progression feels appropriate. It doesn’t feel like an overwhelming grind. It also doesn’t feel too quickly achieved. There is a balance that’s been struck that feels just right.
Final Thoughts
If you haven’t tried Rusty’s Retirement, please do. It’s so relaxing and chill. You can play while completing important homework tasks or answering work emails. Or you could even let it run while you play other games. Your options really are nearly endless. It’s a great bite-sized game that deserves every bit of love and attention it gets from the gaming community.
I give it:
You can find Rusty’s Retirement on Steam now!
- May 9, 2024
Whisker Waters is a cute fishing-focused RPG where you play as a cat in a world of other cats, bears, and birds. Explore a lovely world full of beautiful vistas as you take on some serious fishing expeditions. Learn how to master the art of fishing through a variety of mini games and tool upgrades. Gather quests from the folks who inhabit the towns, and build relationships with them. Even learn the distinct narratives each area you visit possesses!
Finally, a Fishing Focused Cozy Game
I know there are tons of different fishing games out there, but none ever seemed to quite scratch that cozy, casual gaming experience itch. Many focus on just fishing, or the RPG games only use it as a side activity instead of the main activity. Whisker Waters ticks all of those boxes, though. Fishing is the name of the game, though you’re also exploring the world, getting to know other people (or animals, really), finishing quests, and solving mysteries. It’s the fully-involved type of game I’ve wanted.
I find the fishing aspect of this game quite interesting, too. As the Steam page says, fishing is easy to learn, but difficult to master. And that holds true. Casting your line into the water is as simple as a few clicks. You can aim where in the water you want the bobber to land, and how far away from the shore it lands. Then, when a fish is hooked on your line, simply line up the pointer with the green bar and keep it in the green bar to reel in your catch. Easy! It’s when the mini games start showing up where things get a little more complicated. There’s a whole host of different mini games you might encounter while fishing in order to get the fish. Untangle from the reeds, pull the fish out from the rocks, sudden whirlpools, and more. It’s a pretty engaging experience that can change depending on the fish you’re catching, which kept me on my toes.
There’s More to Love
Start your adventure with a very lovely intro story scene that really sets the stage for this adventure. You also get to customize your very own cat character. In Whisker Waters, You can choose from several different fur colors and patterns, ear and eye shapes, and even the size of the fluff on your face. It’s possibly the cutest character creator I’ve come across. Plus, as you play the game you do come across accessories you can equip to your character to make it even more unique.
The environments are gorgeous, too. From the lush grass and greenery to the beautifully clear ponds, lakes, and rivers, it’s easy to get absorbed in your surroundings. Plus, there are some unusual creatures wandering around. And the fish are also well done. There’s a variety of them to be found across the different fishing spots in each area. They’re all unique looking from the surface, which helps with quick identification when trying to fish for specific types.
What I Had Problems With
This truly is a lovely game that could benefit from some optimization efforts. I initially struggled playing because the camera moved so wildly and it triggered my motion sickness. I finally figured out it was because you can control the camera with the mouse, but the camera also moves on its own as you move your character. It really needs to be one or the other, and preferably mouse-controlled over movement-based. The camera also gets stuck on objects, or zooms into your back so close because of objects behind you that you can’t see what’s going on. Better camera operation would greatly improve the gaming experience.
I would like to see the quest system of Whisker Waters receive some reworking, too. They’re fine and interesting on their own, but once you’ve accepted them, good luck. You better have read and memorized exactly what to do and where to go, because the quest log does not give you hints on how to complete nor are there map markers for fetch quests. For the fishing quests where you have to catch certain fish, it’s fine, as your fishing log records what areas, types of water, and time of day the fish can be found. Otherwise, you just have to run around and hope for the best.
Final Thoughts
I enjoy this game, truly. It’s adorable, playing as a cat is great, and the focus on fishing is refreshing. It does have some issues, but I’m confident the developers will remedy many of the problems players have brought up. In fact, they’ve already released a hotfix patch to address some of the easier issues. I look forward to what other fixes they have in store for Whisker Waters!
I give it:
You can find Whisker Waters on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation now!
- Apr 4, 2024
Thanks to the developer Low-Hi Tech for giving us the opportunity to play Chill Town. Please also note this game is still in Early Access, which means this is not its final form.
ACNH came out in a time when we all needed it. It provided a cozy, comfortable little escape where we could forget about the horrors of the world and just exist. That game was even the first in the franchise for some of us, me included! However, it left behind an itch for similar games that just hasn’t been scratched since. Until now, anyway. Recently, Chill Town hit Steam in Early Access and so far it’s done well trying to pick up what ACNH has put down.
What Is Chill Town?
Chill Town is a cozy life sim where you help a small island town grow. You get your very own house, which you can decorate, plus you can settle in new neighbors by building their houses, which you also get to decorate. Decorate the island with a variety of plants, lights, outdoor furniture, and more to make it a comfortable little home. Spend your days (and nights) fishing, farming, catching Pals and bugs, and collecting resources. Take a flight to nearby islands to discover different fish and bugs, plants, and crops. Sell your items to earn money and buy more decorations for homes or the town. Complete quests to help the mayor and other residents. Or just sit and enjoy the beauty of your little island while listening to the soothing lo-fi soundtrack that’s built into the game.
My Experience So Far
First and foremost, I love the low-fi soundtrack that Chill Town has. Not only is the music relaxing and soothing, but you’re able to switch between the different songs at will. Plus, fishing is less stressful than in other games. If you accidentally pull the line up too early, it doesn’t disappear, so you can try again. Though, if the fish pulls the bobber underwater and you don’t click in time, you lose it. And, only your first catch (including bugs) pops up with a message that interrupts you to label the item. You still show it off to the camera, but it takes far less time without every catch having a message. It makes fishing and catching far more enjoyable.
Unfortunately tool durability is a feature, but it’s been really easy to earn money to buy new tools. Or if you want to make them with the recipes, resources are abundant. So, either option is super easy to achieve. The tools also feel like they have a good amount of durability before they break, and they have a durability amount you can keep track of in your inventory. Both make planning much easier.
Chill Town does have a day/night cycle similar to Stardew Valley. It’s not a real-time cycle like ACNH, which I actually enjoy more. I haven’t run into any consequences for staying up late, either. So, I’m able to work into the night on projects, but can hop in bed to advance the day. The seasons change, too! So, you can catch seasonal critters without waiting the whole year to do it. What the game needs, though, is the ability to pause. There’s no pause function, so if you want to walk away for a bit, make sure to save and quit to the main menu.
The Road Map
Low-Hi Tech released a road map for this fun sim game that promises a lot of cool features that I look forward to. Many of these new additions will add some great value and freedom to the game, too. Unfortunately, there aren’t set dates for the release of the features since development doesn’t always go to plan.
Chill Town’s road map promises the ability to add pathways to the island as well as fruit trees to cultivate. Social functions will be added to deepen player connections. Island sharing and island visiting are planned so you can allow others to visit or you can visit others. A trade system will be implemented so players can exchange decor items with each other.
What I’m most excited for is the addition of seasonal festivities, which will have fun mini-games, festive items, and experiences. Plus, there’s plans to improve on the seasonal flora and fauna that appears as the weather changes. A museum where you can display your artifacts and critters is coming, plus new bugs, Pals, and island ecosystems.
Final Thoughts
I have run into some issues where the game lags a whole heck of a lot, and my only option is to just shut it down. However, that doesn’t happen often. So, I’ve been able to just explore and really enjoy what the game has to offer. Again, this game is still in Early Access so not everything has been smoothed out or perfect, but the developer releases frequent patches and bug fixes to address problems. They’ve also been up-front with their roadmap, which is great!
I’ve very much enjoyed my time playing Chill Town, and look forward to the improvements that will be made. It’s a laid-back, relaxing little game that gives me the freedom to do my own thing while giving me some structure via quests. It’s fun to explore and decorate. Catching bugs and fish is great. And the overall environment, plus dynamic weather is just lovely. I’d highly recommend it for the ACNH lovers.
I give it:
You can find Chill Town on Steam!
- Mar 14, 2024
Spirittea is a cozy life sim all about helping out mischievous spirits. Developed by Cheesemaster Games, this relaxing sim is perfect for anyone looking to branch out from the usual farming sim. You play as yourself with some customization options, and you’ve just moved to a tiny town in what feels like the middle of nowhere. It’s generally a peaceful town, but the spirits have become restless and lost now that the townspeople have stopped worshiping them. It’s up to you to not only restore the bath house to give the spirits an outlet, but you’ll need to track them down and solve their problems, too!
Overall, It’s an Enjoyable Game
I’ve followed the development of Spirittea for a while, because as much as I love farming sims, having something different in the cozy game category is great. Plus, I love the idea of living in a rural Japanese-inspired town and running a bath house for spirits. It’s like my own personal Spirited Away without the consequences and bad guys.
The game starts with you meeting all of the townspeople, much like every other life sim out there. This time, though, you have Jan the dog to show you around. Speak to Jan and they’ll lead you to the villager, instead of aimlessly wandering around the town looking for people. It was an enjoyable way to force you to meet everyone and get a chance to see the town as you do it.
Being able to sleep at any time of day to advance the day by a few hours, or all night, is seriously one of Spirittea’s best assets. Sometimes you don’t want to open the bath house. Instead, you want to go fishing and catch some bugs, but you also want to do it at night. So, hop in your cozy bed and advance the clock! It was great when I was just done with the day and wanted to move on period.
Throw in the spirits with their different storylines and histories, and Wonyan being a sassy bit of comic relief, and it’s an intriguing game overall. Each of the spirits shows up in their own way, and requires some type of help that differs from the last. Plus, they look unique and have some great dialogue of their own. The character designs are done well, so everyone looks different from each other and easy to distinguish. The town is easy to navigate and explore, too. Everything together makes for a delightful experience.
There Are Some Cons, Though
As much as I enjoy Spirittea, there are some problems with the game. I thankfully didn’t encounter any bugs or glitches, so I suppose these are more gripes than anything. However, there’s definite room for improvement in some aspects.
My biggest issue is the map. It sways. When you open it, instead of the landmarks, houses, and trees being stationary, the sway and bounce to the music. It was a motion-sickness dilemma that posed a problem throughout my whole play. Plus, trying to find someone in the apartment building can be difficult because the sprites stack on top of each other so it’s hard to distinguish who is who. And if you’re at the apartment trying to see if your target townsperson is there, your marker is huge and covers up a good portion of that stack.
I enjoyed Spirittea’s addition of mini-games, and that they were unique. There was no carbon copy with a slight difference. I initially picked the hardest song possible in karaoke and wondered why it was SO hard, until I realized my mistake. The controls for that mini-game are great, though. My problem was with the fishing mini-game. You move your thumbstick the opposite direction instead of in the direction of the circle you want to select. It’s not very intuitive, and it wasn’t very cozy to have to stop and struggle every time I fished. Worse was the drinking mini-game not telling you anything about how to play or what controls to use. You just have to figure it out. Good luck!
Final Thoughts
I would still recommend Spirittea to cozy gamers looking for something different than the usual farm sim. It really is a delightful game, despite some of the issues. The storyline is unique, the characters are fun, and the visuals are nice. I really enjoy running my own bath house, too. It was simple and easy, and just overall fun!
I give it:
You can find Spirittea on Steam, Switch, and Xbox!
- Mar 7, 2024
Minami Lane, developed by Doot and Blibloop, is a wholesome little street management game set on a Japanese-inspired street. Build homes to attract new villagers and ensure their needs are met by providing food and entertainment options. Green spaces like parks and hot springs beautify the street, which makes everyone happy, too! Decorate each building by picking from a set of colors, and strategically place your buildings to create an inviting environment. Complete missions or engage in sandbox mode to get creative!
Gameplay
Minami Lane is one of those short, but sweet games that lives in your brain just waiting for you to pick it back up and play again. There’s not a lot to the game overall, and it’s about a 2-4 hour playtime type of game. However, it’s so pretty, so cute, and just perfect enough to keep your attention and drag you back for more. It’s easy to pick and learn. You can use only your mouse to accomplish things by clicking. There’s no complicated controls or convoluted mechanics.
The game is perfectly laid-back in concept and actuality. You can pause the day, let it run normally, or even speed it up if you prefer. Plus, you can check the missions for the level at any time. What I found really neat was being able to save each villager’s request for a change to the street, which helped me better accommodate them. For example, some villagers prefer more egg in their ramen, and some wanted more daisies at the florist. I could save each of those comments and come back to them after the day ended so I could update the inventories of each shop. No guesswork or having to make use of my trusty notebook!
The color palette really adds to the charm of Minami Lane, too. It’s soft and pastel so it’s easy on the eyes, but nothing is muddled looking. This extends to the color choices you can make for your buildings, too. Nothing too bright or flashy is available, though I would love to see a larger color palette option for buildings. You can even pick a color for the park, which changes the colors of the trees so you can go for a cheery springtime cherry blossom look, or fun fall cozy look. Throw in the soundtrack with its peppy, but pleasant sound and it’s a perfect mix of visual and aural.
Final Thoughts
I loved every moment of this game. The simplicity, the adorable graphics, the ease of use. All of it. Plus, you get to pet the cats that show up and they make that great little “brrrt” activation noise. Everything about Minami Lane is charming and wonderful, and I can’t recommend it enough!
You can find Minami Lane on Steam now!
- Feb 29, 2024
I got to experience the closed beta version of this game thanks to the developer and publisher!
If you missed the last time I talked about Time & Galaxy, then let me get you up to speed! This game is a vibrant, quirky visual novel where you play as the galaxy’s first robot reporter. You’ve just begun your internship at the renowned holopaper, Times & Galaxy, and you need to prove your worth. Take on different assignments and brush up on your journalism skills as you investigate the scene of a crash, interview contestants in a contest, or gather quotes from onlookers. Then, use the Build-a-Story tool to create your piece!
Gameplay
Times & Galaxy is a visual novel, so you just need WASD keys to move, and your mouse to click. Interact with your crewmates, as well as the people you want to interview using the mouse, and that’s it! It’s simple and easy to play, which is perfect for focusing on the engaging dialogue you’ll come across.
I was immediately captivated by this game. Every single character design is unique. Personalities are different from each other. Plus, you interact with over 100 different characters across the whole game. I experienced a limited closed beta version, so did not encounter all 100+ characters, but if you like visual novels, you need to! The characters I did get to interact with were fun to get to know. Some were grumpy, some upbeat, and every other flavor of personality you can think of. And all of the dialogue was interesting. Not a single conversation made me bored, so there’s clearly been a lot of thought and care put into this game. You can even flirt with people, or robots, or aliens! You, a robot, exhibiting flirting skills was possibly the highlight of interacting with folks, too.
I really enjoyed traveling to the different locations in Times & Galaxy, too. Each assignment let me see a small peak at the different planets in the galaxy. Not to mention, each assignment was super unique. One was a shuttle crash site where I examined the shuttle and interviewed people. Another was a cat show fluff piece where I got to visit with the cats and talk to their owners. I don’t think there’s a single thing in this game that I can call boring. It’s quirky, fun, humorous, and overall just great.
Visuals and Soundtrack
If you aren’t as charmed by the beautiful visuals as I am, then we need to talk. They are vibrant without being overwhelming and just fit the story and setting so perfectly. I couldn’t imagine playing this game without these lovely graphics. They’re clever and add so much life to what is ultimately a limited view of the galaxy. You spend most of your time on the ship or at specific places for your stories, often a single room or area. So, it’s important that the visuals (and dialogue) make an impact. And they do!
Pair everything with the great soundtrack and Times & Galaxy has really nailed what it was aiming for. The music fits each scene and situation perfectly. It doesn’t overwhelm, either. You’re not listening to the same track over and over again. Nor is anything obnoxious. Each track fits well where it is and sits perfectly in the background like it should.
Final Thoughts
If you don’t have Times & Galaxy on your Wishlist already, what are you waiting for? It’s so charming and funny. The characters and situations are fun. The visuals are gorgeous. The soundtrack is great. What more could you ask for from a game?
I give it:
You can find Times & Galaxy on Steam!
